


you are what you eat

by yanjunsdimples



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: M/M, crackhead idea, dont read this if ur looking for a serious read, i was dared to write this, mack daddy, mackerel boy, npc in la, this is just a massive joke im sorry, this is kc's fault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-19 18:05:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14878670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yanjunsdimples/pseuds/yanjunsdimples
Summary: in which the mack in mack daddy is short for mackerelalternatively, zhangjing smells something fishy about yanjun while they're in los angeles





	you are what you eat

“Girls, we could be your Mack Daddy.”

 

The room was left quiet after the final notes of the song faded away, filled only with the heaving breaths of Zhangjing and Yanjun as they held the ending pose for a few seconds, before releasing it and dropping to the ground, sprawled out side by side. Yanjun’s hand slowly made its way to his boyfriend’s, fingers interlocking perfectly as if made for each other. Zhangjing turned to face the younger, only to find him already staring at him with a smile on his face, gaze soft and dimples visible - Zhangjing’s favourite smile. As a flush of pink grew to tint his cheeks, Zhangjing sat up and nodded towards his phone connected to the speakers, hoping to suppress the butterfly sanctuary that was his stomach. “Do you want to practise another song now? I think we have the dance down for Mack Daddy.”

 

A response came after a few seconds of contemplation. “Do you mind going over it with me a bit more? I’m still a bit unsure about some moves.”

 

Zhangjing knew he could never say no to Yanjun - in fact, Yanjun knew this too. So crawling over to his phone, Zhangjing reluctantly pressed play for the tenth time that day.

 

 

 

 

 

After another hour of near-constant dancing and singing, as well as Zhangjing’s decision to order delivery to “try out the food in America”, the two settled on the floor of the practice room to each lunch. Yanjun had ordered grilled mackerel, while Zhangjing had insisted on a roast pork burger.

 

“I can’t believe you’re eating pork after you promised fans that you would diet”, the younger commented, amused by Zhangjing practically inhaling his burger, “Absolutely unbelievable. I guess you are what you eat.”

 

“Are you implying that I’m a pig?” He received only a smirk in reply. “Well then you’re a mackerel!”

 

Snorting at the elder’s adorable attempt at teasing him back, Yanjun simply shook his head and gestured for Zhangjing to direct his attention back to his burger.

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch Zhangjing had been dragged away by Linong to help him with his vocals, leaving Yanjun to practise alone. He returned half an hour later, standing outside the room only to hear the same line for what Zhangjing thought may have been the thousandth time that day - “Girls, we could be your Mack Daddy.”

 

Pushing open the door, Zhangjing greeted Yanjun with a raised eyebrow. “Still Mack Daddy? Yanjun, your dancing and singing are fine, I don’t know wh-“

 

His sentence was cut short as the elder spotted Yanjun leaning against the mirror, short of breath, hair plastered to his forehead in extreme sweat. Zhangjing immediately rushed over to his boyfriend, panickedly nagging him with “what’s wrong”s, “what happened”s, “look at me”s. He had never seen the other man so pale and sickly in their many years of friendship, and he had certainly never seen anyone look so drained of colour - it was as if Yanjun’s glowing, sun kissed skin had been replaced with a dull slate of grey. 

 

But despite his continuous pestering, Zhangjing received no definite answers - only a wave of the hand, a slightly pained smile, and “It’s ok, I’ll rest for today and keep practising tomorrow.”

 

 

 

 

 

Zhangjing’s worries from that day seemed to not get better, but worse, and it frustrated him that he didn’t know how to fix it. Despite his insistence that Yanjun was able to execute his parts in Mack Daddy perfectly fine, his words apparently went in one ear and out the other, and the younger continued to claim that “I just don’t think I do it well enough. It’s the song that I’m least confident in, you know?” And of course, Zhangjing couldn’t say no to Lin Yanjun.

 

But that’s not what bothered Zhangjing. What lingered in his mind and kept him up at night was that Yanjun never seemed to recover from that day he was sick in the practice room - in fact, it seemed fishy, but it was as if Yanjun’s condition was worsening day by day. But perhaps Zhangjing was just being extra wary as Yanjun’s boyfriend, since nobody else in the group seemed to notice. 

 

A few days after the incident, Zhangjing had took notice of changes in Yanjun’s eyes - they had always been one of his favourite features on his lover, always warm with comfort and the feeling of home, yet playful with whispers of flirtation and rebellion. At least, that’s what they used to look like. Zhangjing guessed he needed more hours of sleep because he seemed to have been hallucinating, but he could also have sworn that recently, Yanjun’s eye shape had transitioned from an almond to a … circle? The adventure and warmth he used to lose himself in was nowhere to be found, replaced instead with a dull gaze that always seemed to stare into the distance, at nothing in particular. 

 

In addition to his eyes, Zhangjing guessed he also needed to get his nose checked, because the lingering smell of raw fish been bothering him for a while, despite nobody owning up to it when he had asked his fellow Nine Percent members. “I smell it in practice room 4, but I thought you and Yanjun were responsible for it, since you two are the only ones who really use that room”, Xukun had answered when approached. 

 

Zhangjing soon grew used to Yanjun’s changing appearance and the persistent fishy smell though, and temporarily gave up on figuring out the cause of it.

 

 

 

 

 

It was the night before they flew from Los Angeles back to China, and all the Nine Percent members were focused on making good use of the practice rooms, which were definitely much bigger than those back home. Of course, this meant that a single song was on repeat in practice room number 4. A song that Yanjun seemed obsessed with recently, but Zhangjing had grown tired of several days prior, opting to take a break and assist Zhengting with vocal practice instead.

 

“Girls, we could be your Mack Daddy.”

 

Three obnoxious knocks were heard at the door before Zhangjing entered, not bothering to wait for an answer. Only Yanjun would be in this room, after all, and it’s not like he had a reason to hide from Zhangjing. But for some reason, Yanjun was nowhere to be found in this room. Zhangjing’s eyes immediately darted to the speakers, a slight frown forming on his face. Yanjun’s phone was plugged in to the speakers, meaning that he had to be here - he would never leave a room without his phone, after all. Assuming that perhaps this was a prank, Zhangjing strode towards the curtains, realising that the younger could possibly be hiding there.

 

Zhangjing took no more than two steps forward before his body made contact with the wooden floor, having slipped on something lying in the middle of the room - Zhangjing made a mental note to lecture Yanjun on this later. Sitting up and rubbing the elbow that had hit the ground first, Zhangjing looked back, fuming. His anger was quickly replaced with confusion though, because what he had stepped and slipped on was a single mackerel. 

 

And suddenly, everything made sense. Yanjun’s dulled skin. His changed eyes. The fish smell in their practice room. 

 

“You are what you eat.”

**Author's Note:**

> did i just write 1.2k on yanjun turning into a mackerel bc yea why did i do that.. dont take this seriously this is probably my most badly written fic ever im so sorry i swear im normally better than this sjkdhfkg blame kc (yanjunsmiles)
> 
> i tried not to make it overly obvious that yanjun was turning into a fish but like ! did i trick anyone 
> 
> find me for more questionable content on [twt](https://twitter.com/breadforyanjun)


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